A number of safety devices for use in vehicles to protect vehicle occupants in the event of a collision are known and well documented in prior art. The most widely excepted and used are seat belts or shoulder belts which have saved many lives principally by keeping the occupants from being thrown about inside the vehicle or being thrown out of the vehicle, however, the typical seat belt does not protect the driver from coming into contact with the steering wheel.
In recent years apparatus has been developed which upon pressurized activation is propelled towards an occupant of the vehicle to prevent the occupant from striking the structure of the vehicle in the event of a collision such as the well known "air-bag" protection device U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,576. The typical air-bag apparatus comprises an inflatable, elastic container having little or no permeability to gas which at the instant of collision is explosively filled with a gaseous mixture by means of a suitable releasing arrangement. In its rest position the air-bag is placed in tightly folded condition in a suitable container in the vehicle in front of the occupant it is designed to protect. In order to perform its function the air-bag must be inflated within a few fractions of a second of the initial collisional impact, and inflation in such a short period of time generally causes a sound in the vehicle corresponding to the decible levels produced by detonation of a shotgun blast. Such sound levels commonly cause damage to the eardrums of the occupants in the vehicle. Another disadvantage in the use of the air-bag system is the enormous increase in volume and pressure inside the vehicle when the air-bag is activated. This also affects the eardrums of the occupants of the vehicle and commonly causes damage to certain parts of the vehicle body due to the increase increase in pressure. The doors of the vehicle are sometimes deformed by the increased pressure so that they can no longer be opened after the accident has occurred thereby causing an additional safety hazard.
Also, the air-bags are triggered by a pre-set collision speed such as 15-25 M.P.H. and does not protect the driver from collision with the steering wheel at lower speeds of impact which can still cause serious injury and discomfort.
Also the air-bag is not readily reusable as it substantially fills the space in front of the driver and must be "re-loaded" by experts in the field of air-bags.
Also the typical air-bag is generally a factory item which is installed at the point of manufacture and to the knowledge of the present inventors is not an "add-on" feature.
An example of such an air cushion is the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,529 which teaches a cushion of substantially quadrilateral configuration and includes superposed congruent impact surfaces joined to each other along their longitudinal and lateral margins, by side surfaces folded inwardly.
All of the inflatable on contact "air-bags" rely on sensor means which senses a pre-determined collision impact of a pre-determined force or mechanical releases such as the device taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,576 and the safety of the occupant depends on the reliability of many elements, any one of which may fail under actual collision conditions.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a cushion which is made of a resilient material or is inflatable upon installation and which is affixed to the steering wheel of a vehicle which still allows for safe steering, horn button contact, visibility of the dash-board meters and unobstructed vision through the windshield and which does not depend on collision to protect the driver from the steering wheel and post and is effective even in a minor collision or sudden stop.